Friday, December 12, 2008

Tubetop - 20th Century Masters: The Singles Collection (1996)

At long last I've followed up my TubetopThree Minute Herculespost some six months ago. Please click on the hyperlink for my commentary and bio details on this criminally overlooked Posies spin-off project from the mid-90s. I said it then, and I'll say it again, Tubetop were Seattle, guitar pop wunderkinds of near-monumental proportions, and are about as gratifying as anything you're likely to hear in the "power-pop" realm.

In addition to Hercules, Tubetop issued two singles of their own, and a split 7" with TheModel Rockets. Tracks 1, 2, and 5 later appeared in rerecorded incarnations on Tubetop's aforementioned lone album. "Love Germ" & "Vixen," from the band's single on Laundry Room Records, are entirely exclusive to this release, and I gotta tell ya, it took me a couple years to track this piece of wax down. The sleeve of the C/Z Records single ("Bleeder" & "With You") features the band's name in a shiny, maroon veneer (mylar perhaps?), that unfortunately failed to translate from my scanner. Nevertheless, enjoy.